du·ress 
(d-rĕs, dy-)
(d-rĕs, dy-)n.
1.
a. Compulsion by threat or violence; coercion: confessed under duress.
b. Constraint or difficulty caused by misfortune: "children who needed only temporary care because their parents were ill, out of work, or under some other form of duress" (Stephan O'Connor).
2. Law
a. A fraud achieved through the use of a threat or compulsion: She had a cause of action for duress. His claim was based on duress.
b. A criminal defense for an act undertaken under threat of serious bodily harm: His defense was duress.
3. Forcible confinement.
[Middle English duresse, harshness, compulsion, from Old French durece, hardness, from Latin dūritia, from dūrus, hard; see deru- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]